Life boat release gear



NOV. 5, 1957 w, HICKSON 2,811,729

I LIFE BOAT RELEASE GEAR Filed Aug. 24, 1953 v 3 Sheets-Sheet l William .Ha'cli on ATTORNEY 1957 w. F. r-hcKsoN ,729

LIFE BOAT RELEASE GEAR Filed Aug. 24, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR- 86 I n l 1112172111121? 30 .J 86 @NEY M Nov; 5, 1957 w. F. HICKSION 2,811,729 7 LIFE BOAT RELEASE GEAR Filed Aug. 24, 1953 v 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Y @W I i r 1 0 INVENTOR Wz'liz'a FHic on ATTORNEY States Patent tice LIFE BOAT RELEASE GEAR William F. Hickson, Railway, N. J., assignor to Confinental Copper and Steel Industries, Inc, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application August 24, 1953, Serial No. 375,961

1 Claim. (Cl. 944) The present invention relates to life boat release gear and it particularly relates to life boat release gear of the so called closed hook type.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide a novel life boat release gear or boat detaching apparatus, which will be reliable in operation, may be readily and inexpensively installed, and which may be readily operated without danger of premature release when the life boat is launched.

It is among the particular objects of the present invention to provide a life boat release gear of the character above described, which may be readily installed upon life boats of standard construction and of varying size and length, and which will give a predetermined working load per hook with the assurance of maximum safety in operation and there will not be any inadvertent or premature release.

Another object is to provide a boat release gear which will permit quick and simultaneous detachment of the tackles or falls, from both ends of the life boat, and the perfect control of the operator, which will also permit ready attachment or connection of said falls, in a simple, quick and reliable manner, avoiding all risk of accidental disengagement.

Another object is to provide a life boat release gear of the closed hook type which will be reliable in operation and enduring in construction, and which will readily permit release in a heavy sea with safety to the passengers and the crew without likelihood of accidental disconnection and without the use of special blocks or falls even though the ship may be rolling or swaying.

Still further objects and advantages will appear in the more detailed description set forth below, it being understood, however, that this more detailed description is given by way of illustration and explanation only and not by way of limitation, since various changes therein may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

In accomplishing the above objects it has been found most satisfactory to provide a closed hook type of release gear in which the nose or bill of the hook will have an enlarged portion and which will be flattened laterally.

This flattened laterally extending nose or bill portion of the hook will extend substantially the entire distance between the double preventer bar or between the clevis of the stop-gap member, finger, catch or latch, so that there is no likelihood of any ring or other connection to the falls dropping out of position between the preventer bar and the hook.

By use of such an arrangement, it is possible to have a greater assurance of safe and reliable operation without the likelihood of premature or accidental disengagement of the tackle or falls which connect the release gear to the davit structure.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists of the novel construction, combination Patented Nov. 5, 1957 and arrangement of parts as hereinafter more specifically described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications can be resorted to which fall within the scope of the claim hereunto appended.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Fig. 1 will be a side elevational view of the release gear of the present invention showing the associated life boat and fall or tackle construction.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view showing a part of the release actuating mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a top elevational view of the hook construction showing the clevis thereof.

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of such hook.

Fig. 5 is a rear elevational view showing the fragmentary bill in enlarged view.

Fig. 6 is a front elevational view showing the widened bill or hook.

Fig. 7 is a side elevational view showing a preventer bar assembly which encloses and embraces the flattened bill.

Fig. 8 is the top sectional view showing the interior construction of the clevis preventer bar assembly.

Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken along line 99 of Fig. 1.

Referring to Fig. 1 there is shown the boat A having a bow post 10 and a supplemental bow post 11.

The supplemental bow post 11 is connected to the main bow post 10 by the structure plate 12.

The supplemental bow post 11 is also connected to the bow post It) by a double plate 13 and the plate attachment 14.

The double plate 13 has the pivot connections 15 and 17 to the plate extension 16 and to the structural attachment plate 14, respectively.

Connecting the upper ends of the bow posts 10 and 11 is the bar structure 18 and the breast plate 19.

To the upper end of the bow post 11 is connected the hook B to which this invention is most particularly directed.

The hook B pivots upon the trunnion or journal 20 and is of the construction best shown in Figs. 3 to 6.

As indicated in Figs. 3 to 6 the hook B has a depending widened hook or bill portion 30, which will extend sufficiently laterally to fill substantially the entire space between the legs of the U-shaped preventer bar of Figs. 7 and 8.

The sides 31 of the hook B are flattened so that the" inside faces 32 of the side plate 33 of the preventer bar may swing across them in holding or latching the end of the falls or tackles of portion on the hook B.

The hook B as shown in Figs. 3 to 6 extends upwardly, as indicated at 34 and 35, joins the base structure which has rearwardly extending flanges 36, having the openings 37 to receive the trunnion or axle 20.

Between the plates 36 is positioned the upper end 21 of the bow post 11.

The breast plate 19 has the extensions 22 which contact the rear edges 38 of the plates 36 and limit the downwardly movement of the hook in the direction 39.

It will be noted that the cavity or recess 40 between the plates 36 terminates at 41 short of the base structure 35.

The base structure 35 is provided with an extension or tail portion 42.

The low end of the tail portion 42 has a cylindrical downward extending stud 43 which is received in the recess 50 at the top of the head or hooklock 51 of the clutch structure 52.

The clutch structure 52 is rotatably mounted in the opening 53 in the bearing structure 54.

The bearing structure 54 includes the hooklock bearing 55 and the lower support bearing 56. i

The lower end of the hooklock terminates in the clevis bearing structure 57 which has an universal double pin connection 58 and 59 to the u-shaped clevis 60.

The U-shaped clevis 60 is mounted and connected to the upper end release pipe 61 as shown in Fig; 1.

The lower end of the release pipe 61 as shown in Fig. 2 has connected thereto the U-shaped bearing clevis 62.

This bearing clevis has" the universal pin connection 63 and 64 to the clevis 65; h I

The clevis 65 is mounted on the release pipe 66. H

The release pipe 66' extends through the eye 67 of the bearing guide 68. r

The bearing guide 68 is mounted by the base 69 upon the seat structure 70.

At the center of the boat there is provided a suitable lever arrangement to rotate the pipes 66 and 61 and to swing the head 51 from the position 180 degrees as shown in Fig. l, and swing the tail 43 so that it may be released from the recess 50. p

The bearing structure 54 is mounted upon the post 11 by means of the plates and 81, which are bolted or riveted in position thereon as indicated at 82 and 83.

The-preventer bar assemblyio'r lat'clias shown in Figs. 7 and 8 consist of the side plates 33, which are spa'ced apart by means of the tubulaf spacer member 80.

The tubular spacer member 80extends through an' opening in the post 11 and the assembly of the plates 33 is held together by the bolt 82 and the nut 83'.

The extensions 84 act as stops to limit the movement of the preventer bar in one direction.

The close juxta pdsitionbetween the side edges 86 of the bill as shown in Fig. 6 and the inside face2 of the preventer bar assembly of Figs. 7 and 8' will give assurance that the fall or tackle will not fall out of position until the tail 43 of the'ho'ok IB' is released by the turning of the pipes 61 and 66; I

The hook B is' released in the following fashion: In the positioii shown in Fig. 1 the stud 43 is held in the lock 51*; When a person in the boat rotates the pipe 61; thiswillrotate the head 51, permitting the stud' 43 to move out of the recess 50 to the left and the hook B will th'c'rtt'urn 180 upon the pivot 20,- permitting the fall shown in the .dot-and-dash lines at the top of Fig. 1 to be released, thus detaching the boat from the davit strilctiire;

The invention has thus provided a much safer construction, more reliable in operation, which will not readily become deranged.

As many changes could be made in the above life boat release gear, and many widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope of the claim, and it is intended that all matter contained in the above description shall be inte'rprted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed What is claimed is:

Life boat release gear having a U-shaped hook pivotally mounted at its bight portion on the upper end of an end post of the life boat said U-shaped hook being inverted to hold the falls of a lifeboat and said hook being capable of swinging, so that the U-shape is upright, thus releasing the falls in said upright position, the end of one leg of said U-shape having a bill and the end of the other leg having a tail extension provided with a rotating cup closed on one side to hold the tail and the hook in inverted position and when rotated 180 having an open side portion to release the tail and permit swinging of the hook so that said U-shape is in upright position, and two swinging side plates pivotally mounted on said post and having free ends, said free ends' th eving" toward the bight portion of the hook when rrioyed to open position and swinging along each side of the bill of the hook when in inverted position, said bill Bang characterized in that it widens transversely as it eirthds downwardly between said plates so as to close the gap between the inside faces of the plates and the outside lateral edges of the hook and prevent twisting and release of thefalls and said lateral edges of the bill wedging' toward the inside faces of the plates when closing the hook.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 932,776 Gentne r Au 31 1909 1,350,716 Freeman Aug. 24, 1920 1,475,617 Allbin Nov. 27, 1923 2, L923 Rottnier June 14, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS 715 Great Britain of 1913 

